Fall Conference to Thwart Tech Bros’ Data Centers
by Stanley Heller, Administrator, Promoting Enduring Peace
You know about the huge data centers springing up everywhere to power the AI computers. They’re noisy 24/7, taking up huge amounts of water and often raising electricity rates for surrounding communities. In the short term, they’ll need lots of methane- (natural gas) burning power plants to provide electricity. But the tech bros plan to replace that with nuclear power plants in the mid-term. Right now CT has only one nuclear power plant, Millstone, but the CT legislature has repealed its flat ban on more nuclear power plants and has set aside $5 million to find communities that will house the nuke plants.
Nuclear power has at least one fatal flaw: its radioactive waste. The waste is dangerous for thousands of years and is kept at the plants “temporarily” in steel/concrete casks. The problem is there’s no safe way to dispose of the dangerous waste so “temporary” likely means “forever.” So if a community goes along with the drive for more nuclear power it can expect to keep and guard that waste permanently.
We’re told there’s this great need for more electricity for the AI, but there’s no necessity for more AI. Some of AI holds promise but a lot of it is openly designed to eliminate jobs. What’s really needed is a program to deal with the global warming emergency that’s causing climate collapse. Solar, wind, batteries and mandatory conservation measures can do the job.
The conference will likely take place in November with some high-powered speakers and community activists who have taken on data centers in their areas. Those interested in planning it can contact Promoting Enduring Peace at office@pepeace.org or (203) 444-3578.
[“Tech bro” is a slang term for stereotypically masculine individuals working in the technology industry, particularly programming.]